Which year was it? An Incredible History Quiz

Amazing how you can often forget the dates of historical events you actually witnessed in your lifetime, much less things you've only read about in history class. Let's see which dates stuck in your brain.

Start Quiz »

You scored

0 out of 10

Question 1 of 10

In what year was the Great Wall of China started?

220 B.C.E.

Construction on the Great Wall of China started in the third century B.C.E. to protect the Chinese Empire from northern invaders. But today's best-known and best-preserved sections of the Great Wall were built much later — in the 14th through 17th centuries C.E. It's considered one of the most impressive architectural feats in history.

99 C.E.

1321 C.E.

Question 2 of 10

When did Gutenberg invent the printing press?

1350

1450

Sometime between 1440 and 1450, Johannes Gutenberg created the first printing press, which allowed for the mass-production of books (and other materials) for the first time in history.

1550

Question 3 of 10

In what year did the pilgrims first set foot in America?

1620

It was November 1620 when the pilgrims landed in Cape Cod. In December, one month later, they sailed north to Plymouth and its safer harbors.

1650

1685

Question 4 of 10

French revolutionaries stormed the Bastille in:

1689

1789

The Bastille was a royal fortress that many French citizens considered the key symbol of the repressive and hostile Bourbon monarchy. In 1789, a group of revolutionaries attacked and dismantled the fortress, kickstarting the French Revolution.

1889

Question 5 of 10

Queen Elizabeth II's coronation was in:

1949

1951

1953

The elder daughter of King George VI was crowned monarch of the United Kingdom in 1953, when she was 27 years old. In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest-reigning monarch in British history.

Question 6 of 10

When was U.S. President James Garfield assassinated?

1843

1881

When attorney Charles Giteau didn't receive an appointment from President Garfield, he was so angry he shot him twice. Garfield lived 80 days after the shooting, then succumbed to his injuries.

1902

Question 7 of 10

In what year did the Korean War begin?

1951

1950

In the first military action of the Cold War, 75,000 soldiers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) stormed across the 38th parallel into the territory of the Republic of Korea (South Korea). Three years and 5 million deaths later, the conflict ended, although the Korean peninsula remains divided into the two countries.

1953

Question 8 of 10

The Berlin Wall came down in:

1989

Erected in 1961 to separate the city of Berlin into two sectors, east and west, gates in the wall were opened by East Germany's Communist rulers in 1989 after mass protests. Jubilant citizens not only swarmed through the open gates, but also climbed on top of the wall and began to destroy it.

1990

1991

Question 9 of 10

When did the Iraq War, aka the Second Persian Gulf War, begin?

2001

2003

Forces from the U.S., Great Britain and several other countries initiated the conflict in March 2003.

2005

Question 10 of 10

In what year did the Winter Olympics split from the Summer Olympics so the two games were held in different years?

1988

1992

1994

Up until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics were always held in the same year. After that, the International Olympic Committee decided to separate them by two years to lessen the administrative load and to allow the Winter Games to get more publicity and revenue. In 1994, a bonus Winter Olympics was held to start the separation.